


The Queen's Request

by Diggy



Series: Hide and Sheik series [5]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Warriors
Genre: Family, Gen, I don't know what else to tag this as, Loss, Pregnant Zelda, previous relationships, this just came in out of the blue and my fingers typed without my permission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-29 21:37:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20089156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diggy/pseuds/Diggy
Summary: “Impa,” the queen called behind her to the only other being in the room. Impa glanced up from the message she’d just been reading and for a moment was transported back in time to when a familiar little princess would call her with all her intrinsic questions and miraculous wonder, sometimes of things she didn’t even know how to answer.“Impa,” the toothy child would beam at her like a daughter to her mother. “Where do fireflies go during the day?”





	The Queen's Request

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if this is different, because it is.  
I'm going to go hide now.

Queen Zelda stood at the window and smiled brightly. Below in the courtyard she watched her daughter with a large stick in hand a giant leaf tied to her head pretend to battle her father as if she were a knight and he a dragon. It brought a warmth to her heart and soul.

It also brought a kick from the rambunctious unborn addition to her family that seemed more and more eager to make his royal appearance with each passing day.

The young princess tackled her father and in a fit of giggles Zelda could practically hear in her own mind, the two players tumbled to the ground dramatically.

_ Beautiful. _

From behind her, Impa read aloud a new report filling in the pregnant royal of the most current events. But Zelda wasn’t paying any attention that morning. Her mind was down below in the grass with the rest of her growing family and in thoughts she had been pondering for  _ years... _

“Impa,” the queen called behind her to the only other being in the room. Impa glanced up from the message she’d just been reading and for a moment was transported back in time to when a familiar little princess would call her with all her intrinsic questions and miraculous wonder, sometimes of things she didn’t even know how to answer.

_ “Impa,” the toothy child would beam at her like a daughter to her mother. “Where do fireflies go during the day?” _

“Impa.”

With the sound of her name echoed once more, the image faded from her mind and rematerialized to the Queen now glancing directly at the Sheikah warrior from across the bedroom. Zelda now fully grown and ever the beautiful young woman everyone  _ knew _ she’d become stared at her familiar with a strange look in her eyes.

“Why didn’t  _ you _ ever have children?”

Impa stopped short. The air in the room seemed to immediately drop several degrees and the background sound usually buzzing through the castle halls seemed to all at once go silent.

“I’m sorry?” The Sheikah held herself strong despite the unexpected attack.

Zelda shifted and for a moment wondered if it were even proper to ask the Sheikah leader such a question.

But Impa wasn’t  _ just _ a Sheikah warrior. She wasn’t  _ just _ the leader of the Hylian army. She wasn’t  _ just _ a servant to the royal family. The term  _ servant _ alone brought a horrible taste to Zelda’s mouth.

No, Impa was her guide, her leveled mind, the one who taught her to walk and fear no one but yourself. She was for all intensive purposes the only  _ maternal _ figure she’d ever known.

So she asked her again.

“Why didn’t you ever have any children of your own?”

Again there was silence. Impa remained frozen in her spot not of fear or disinterest but  _ calculation. _ She was taking the tone and pitch for the queen’s voice and calculating the multitude of reasons why the Queen of Hyrule might suddenly be asking her such a question.

_ She supposed it wasn’t all that surprising, really. Still… _

“Or get married for that matter?” As if to remind herself of why she was asking such a question, Zelda glanced down at the thin gold band circling her ring finger and felt a warmth in it. “I know Sheikah are known for separating their emotions…”

“You and I both know you understand more about  _ ‘love’ _ than the average being, your Grace.” Impa finally turned around to face the troubled royal. Her expression was cold and unwavering but she didn’t let her voice intimidate or give the Queen any reason to think these questions were unwelcome.

So Zelda waited knowing full well there was a story about to be revealed to her. Impa came up to her young queen quietly but didn’t say a word as she approached. Zelda looked out the window again, her eye immediately catching the green tunic she’d been watching from afar. Impa sat beside her silently, so quiet in fact that Zelda barely even noticed how close she was until the Sheikah was brushing some loose golden curls behind her ear.

“Love for a Sheikah is a very different notion than that of a traditional Hylian.”

Zelda searched her elder’s gaze but found no further answers than the warrior clearly wanted to give.

“We do find love on occasion, but it's typically something so strong and profound that when we lose it...we rarely leave ourselves open to finding it again.”

Zelda’s heart seemed to fall in her chest. She watched the mighty warrior pace the room with poise and purpose but there didn’t need to be spoken language for either of the pair to understand the unspoken questions being asked.

“I had a love.” Impa started out the window. Down below in the castle courtyard a ground of young nights convened with a Sheikah scholar. Zelda watched with a strange sense of loss in her chest and stared when the faintest smile cracked the older woman’s typically stoic expression.

Zelda shifted, but rather than fail to stand like earlier, she simply rested a hand over her swollen middle and rubbed her belly smoothly as she waited for Impa to continue her story.

But Impa didn’t surrender any more details and Zelda even wondered if it were proper to be asking the woman who raised her about her love life. Bearer or wisdom or not, the queen understood there was a time and place for every curiosity.

“You’re very fortunate to find someone like Link to love.” Impa turned on her heal and this time met the Queen’s eye directly. “I know the beginning stages of your relations were difficult, but I’ve seen your happiness shift over the years and it’s one I haven’t seen since you were a child running through these castle halls.” The memory made them both smile and Impa took the quiet pause to approach her royal and sit beside her. The Shaikah sat up tall and proud but there was something in her expression that gave off an entirely different tale.

“Did I know him?” Zelda’s voice betrayed her by acting without permission of her mind.

Impa made a face as if ready to correct the Queen but instead just answered with a simple, “Yes.”

“It must have been a very long time ago.”

“It was right after you were born.”

Zelda felt the weight get heavier. “I doubt my needing your constant care made it any easier.”

This time Impa  _ did _ sprout a smile. “Actually I think you did. When I lost the person I loved in my lifetime, I refused to let myself be weakened by the loss. The greatest tragedy in life isn’t losing someone you love but destroying yourself after the loss. In doing so, you are essentially letting down the one you loved. Being asked to look after  _ you _ gave me something else to put my time and attention into. It gave me a little bit of…” she trailed off a moment. “A little bit of love to focus on. I would never go against your mother’s request to care for you as my own, and to this day I’ll hold that request ironclad.”

The two women went silent then. Neither looked at the other nor had a desire to shatter the moment with empty conversation. From afar and out the open window the sounds of the world moving about made a faint waft into the room. It was somehow comforting. Peaceful even.

Impa was the first to finally stand and speak. She didn’t look at her young queen, but Zelda understood the stance all the same. “I may not be royalty or all the training the royal court has, but I did what I could to make sure the Queen’s daughter would be a strong leader—in every way possible.”

It may have been the emotions of the memories or hormones of her son near breaking point within her but Zelda felt the flood of emotion all at once until it nearly choked her with its strength. 

Impa didn’t comment or respond to Zelda’s tears but instead began to walk towards the door, pausing only when her hand had reached the handle. “Your husband, daughter, and future son are very fortunate to have you in their life. And if I have anything to do with the mother you’ve become...then I’ve fulfilled your mother’s request.”

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on twitter via @Lizzir for updates, requests, and sneak peeks.  
~ Digs


End file.
